How to thicken a slow-cooker stew at the end

Yesterday my husband and I set a stew going in the crock pot bright and early in the morning. Being bright and early in the morning, I totally forgot about thickening it. I went on line to look for solutions. Plenty of people asked how to thicken a crockpot stew, and yes, there were answers.

Include a bit of flour (1/4 cup or thereabouts) mixed in at the beginning, possibly tossed with the meat before browning it (assuming you plan to brown it first).

Leave the lid off and let it cook down. These suggestions were obviously written by people who don’t use slow-cookers and aren’t aware that you don’t use them that way. Keeping the lid on is essential to the ambient heat that builds up and cooks the food. So don’t do this. This is why you don’t normally add as much liquid to slow-cooker recipes in the first place.

Include mashed potato flakes or at least diced starchy potatoes for thickening.

However, not a single person addressed being able to thicken it at the end. The assumption seemed to be that you really couldn’t do that. Well, that’s all well and good when you remember the flour at the beginning, but when you’re improvising, and you haven’t had your coffee yet, all does not necessarily go as planned.

So here’s what we did, and it not only worked, it worked amazingly well. This was for a stew that occupied more than half of a six-quart crockpot and had a fair amount of liquid; adjust as needed for other amounts.*

About half an hour before the crockpot is due to finish, briefly lift the lid long enough to ladle out roughly two cups of hot liquid; this should leave some liquid remaining in the crock pot. Re-lid. If it isn’t already over high heat, turn it to high heat. (Note that if you have it on a short cycle, such as 4 hours on high heat, you should wait until it’s finished the cycle so you don’t let the heat out early; just turn it back on to high for the extra half-hour.)

Melt four tablespoons of butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in 1/4 cup of all-purpose flour. Keep whisking as it bubbles, smooths out, and thickens; you want to go for long enough to cook off a bit of the flour taste, but you also don’t want this to get too dark. Maybe a minute, but it’ll depend somewhat on just how hot your burner is. You’re making a roux, and the lighter the roux, the greater the thickening power. So if you see it browning, you’re definitely done.

Gradually whisk in the hot liquid from the stew, and keep whisking until it’s smooth and bubbling. Remove from heat, and stir thoroughly into the contents of the slow cooker. Re-lid and allow to bubble along for another 10-20 minutes.

*For a thick gravy, I find that a ratio of 1 T : 1 T : 1 cup (butter, flour, hot liquid) works pretty well. If you don’t think you have anywhere close to four cups of hot liquid total in the slow-cooker by the end, adjust the butter/flour amounts downward as well. Or, cook the roux until it darkens somewhat. That will cause it to have less thickening power and will also add a bit of a nutty flavor. You can also make a thinner gravy by adjusting in similar ways.

In case you’re curious, this is what we were making (roughly): First, we drained and rinsed the contents of a can of cannellini beans (white kidney beans)—the 14 oz size. Most similar types of beans would substitute just fine. We spread them out over the bottom of the slow-cooker, then added half of a 28 oz can of fire-roasted crushed tomatoes. We put the slab of meat over that, salted it, and peppered it. We covered it with the rest of the crushed tomatoes, then surrounded it with an assortment of chopped veggies (bell peppers, broccoli, portobello mushroom—that sort of stuff). I spooned maybe a cup of homemade chicken broth overtop, and then we set it on low and let it go for about 9 hours before doing the above thickening routine to it. I think that’s pretty much all of it, although it’s possible I’ve forgotten something.

To thicken my stew, I tried a tip from Bon Appetit and took out about 1 cup of the potatoes and carrots and pureed them with my stick blender and put them back into the stew. Perfect. You might want to try that as well. Also, it is gluten free. (I don’t care about that.) I think the cannellini beans might have acted as a thickener as well. Of course, then you wouldn’t have had any beans.

I was going to say this too! I have a bullet that i use for smoothies so I just scooped out a couple of cups of stew – pureed it until it was a liquid sort of and re-added it to the stew. Worked great!

This post saved me tonight! 🙂 I too made stew in the crockpot and totally forgot about the roux… was super bummed when I went to check it and it was so… soupy. Your trick worked like a charm. My hubby will be pleased. 🙂 Thanks!

Used all the “after” suggestions and they worked. After fully cooked I left the lid off while I was making the roux. And I sprinkled some mashed potato flakes on the top after adding your recipe to give it an extra boost.

I am making an Irish Stew for the first time and am afraid it won’t be thick enough at the end although I did add flour at the beginning. I so appreciate this information in case I need it at the end. Thank you!

Thank you so much for posting this! I did a double batch of stew in the crock pot last night, to be delivered to two friends who have both recently gotten out of hospital… it didn’t thicken, and I needed a solution, QUICK! This saved the day… and about $30 worth of ingredients and an hour of chopping! 🙂 Thank you, thank you!!

You know, I’ve tried thickening with flour before and it didn’t turn out. Just got a big bunch of stickiness. I didn’t try it the way you outlined it though. Since it is rainy this week it’s the perfect time to give it another go.

Did stew for 4 in the crockpot and needed to thicken it. I had so many veg in it I used 2 oz marge & 2 oz of flour with quarter of pint of the stock in the crock. It worked so well every one had second helpings except my brother-in-law who had 3! It worked like a dream, and whisking the roux and stock, then whisking into stew broke up a few of the veg as well, enhancing even more. Thanks so much.

My wife of 32 years passed away a while ago so I’m on my own. A cook I ain’t! Got a beef stew in a big cauldron on the go and its looking thin. I like a thick gravy-like texture, so I’m gonna give your tip a try. I followed a recipe from the internet and so far it looks alright. Kalyna, above, mentioned substituting bacon fat for butter for added flavor. I like that. I’m 65 and don’t give a damn about eating healthy. I’d rather eat tasty food than live a month longer by eating food the doesn’t taste good!

Well. Another way is to transfer from crockpot to saucepan, simmer, add some cornflour and water mix (paste), and then boil up for a couple of minutes and then bring back down to simmer and put back into the crockpot. 🙂 Just another way.

Hi. Being blind, it’s not always easy to thicken something, but out of either hearing, “Your gravy for your stew/pot roast is to thin, I tried this last night. I came home to barely enough left in an eight quart pot to feed myself and my father two bowls each. If only they hadn’t left me with the nasty not cleaned out pot, too. Thank you so much, btw i used yourmeasurements exactly. I’ll keep using this. I am pretty sure you’ve saved me from comitting homicide. 😛

i have just used a slow cooker for the first time and your tip has transformed my beautiful,but thin soup into a magnificent stew just like I used to enjoy in my childhood. Happily, it also changed the colour to a lovely golden glow. Many thanks.

Hello. Being totally blind, I’ve only started cooking, and haven’t killed anyone, yet. I’ve gotten comments of watery broth, need to spice it up, to spicy, and i tried your trick on the last stew a few weeks back. Amazing, thank you so much!! 🙂

Thank you for saving my very large, very full crock of beef stew!!! About 15 min after I thought it was good to leave cooking overnight I remembered I forgot to add flour at some point. Of course I had already used the last half stick of butter I had on hand so making even a small amount of roux was impossible. And no, going to the store at 8pm was not an option last night. Anyway, thank you for sharing your successful experiment!

Just used this tip for my slow cooker stew tonight.. AWESOME! normally I used Gravox made into a paste and mixed in, and end up doing it again and again with terrible results. This worked an absolute treat, there is only 1 small serve left!

I’m no flash cook by any means. I cooked a stew in my crockpot last night and about an hour before ready to serve I sprinkled about 1 1/2 tablespoons of rice flour straight into the stew and mixed it in quite quickly so as not to turn to lumps. My stew thickened up beautifully. Been doing it that way for years now.

Thank you. My husband made a stew for dinner tonight & we were a little disappointed. He was hoping more for a casserole than a watery stew. I have just followed your roux recipe & it has changed the stew into a delicious casserole. ☺️

In a little pot I melted butter, added flour, stir like crazy as I added my stew broth a little at a time, then at the end I mashed one of the potatoes into it. Then I added it to the stew pot. It looks so good. I only tasted it. Can’t wait to eat it. First stew I ever made. Chicken stew.

I just want to thank you for your help! I tend to forget to add flour at beginning and usually end up with a running stew with great flavor. I used your tip for adding the rouse at the end and I ended up with thicker creamier stew. My family loved it!

Honestly, if you are still looking for Gluten Free, or even if you aren’t… use a cup or so of the broth, (Or even warm water!) And mix with a tablespoon of corn starch until it forms a loose paste. Drop this into the stew, a small amount at a time while stirring and folding. Give it a few minutes… a little goes a long way.

This was perfect! Thank you so much! I was also wondering if i can use this method at the beginning next time, i usually cook at night and the next morning i don’t have too much time to make the roux. This tastes so much better than just adding flour!

Wow and a great BIG thank you!! You saves our dinner!! Followed your advise and saved the Chicken Stew just before a very hungry crowd arrived! Thank you for posting clear, concise directions, just perfect when we were in a pinch!!